The Samurai was Japan’s first major ninja export to the English-speaking world, bringing the adventures of invincible sword-slinging detective Shintaro and his shinobi-sidekick Tonbei the Mist to millions of fervent fans in Australia in the mid-1960s and generations of followers … Continued
The somewhat physical card game of Menko (aka Bettan or Patchin) — wherein players ‘fwap’ cardboard rectangles or circles down on each other then claim whatever flips over — isn’t the most conducive to collectible items surviving the decades. These things … Continued
A neat little menko card, likely from the 60s, featuring characters from Onmitsu Kenshin, the ground-breaking TV series beloved in Australia as The Samurai. It’s pretty rare to see a color image from this seminal B&W series, and what few … Continued